This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Q&A: Alice Moran on Krista Ford’s tweet about ‘dressing like whores’

Toronto comedian Alice Moran publicly identified herself as a victim of sexual assault Thursday by writing an open letter to Krista Ford, who warned women earlier this week to protect themselves from attacks by not dressing like “whores.”

Toronto comedian Alice Moran publicly identified herself as a victim of sexual assault Thursday by writing an open letter to Krista Ford, who warned women earlier this week to protect themselves from attacks by not dressing like “whores.”

Moran, 24, posted the letter on her Facebook and Twitter accounts Thursday morning. It is addressed to “a lot of people, but specifically Ms. Krista Ford.” It quickly went viral.

Toronto Star reporter Amy Dempsey spoke to Alice Moran a few hours after she posted the letter.

Q: When did you first see Krista Ford’s tweet?

A: I saw it this morning when I woke up. A friend had posted the article. I read it and I was just kind of like, “Okay, nobody gets to call me a whore first thing in the morning.” (Laughs.) That was at about 9:30 a.m. and I probably wrote (the letter) within 20 minutes of reading it. At first it was, “I’m not gonna touch this.” And then it was, “No, I want to do this.”

Article Continued Below

Q: How come? Why did you decide to write the letter?

A: It’s not a personal attack on her by any stretch. I just feel like there’s this pervasive attitude that we can talk about women in these kinds of terms. And it’s unacceptable. There’s no male equivalent for the word “slut.” But that’s a word to say that there’s something wrong with women’s sexuality. It’s that kind of attitude that allows people to think it’s okay to touch women because of the way they’ve dressed, or for any reason like that. And I think that’s terrible, and that we as a society need to get better at this.

Q: Do you mind if I ask about the sexual assault? When and where it happened . . . and what happened?

A: Yeah. It was two Saturdays ago, it was a little after midnight. I was walking home from hanging out with my friends. I noticed somebody jogging up behind me and in my mind I honestly thought it was probably just a friend. Obviously when I felt a touch, I spun around. I hit him, he ran off. And I swore at him and cried. And then I called a friend and (said), “I need you to walk me home,” and I just babbled incoherently until he came and got me.

Q: Where were you?

A: It was Clinton and Bloor.

Q: Did you call the police right away?

A: I called the police and then my roommate Katie and I went back to Clinton’s to talk to the bouncer, see if he had seen anything. And then we went home and waited for the cops and my friend showed up and we all just sort of sat there and dealt.

Q: And this, as far as you know from speaking to police, is part of this whole string of sex assaults that they’re now dealing with?

A: Yes. It sounds like a lot of people have called them with a similar description on the guy.

Q: As a woman who has experienced a sexual assault, you obviously have a right legally to keep your name out of this entirely, but it seems you are forfeiting that right.

A: It never crossed my mind this morning when I posted that that it would go anywhere beyond my friends. I don’t necessarily love the idea that people will Google me and it will say, “Alice Moran, sexual assault victim.” However, this morning I’ve gotten a lot of messages from strangers saying that the same thing happened to them five years ago, or 10 years ago — (people) just wanting to talk about how they never talked about it with people before. And that’s overwhelming and terrifying to me, that people don’t want to talk about these sorts of things happening to them and that so many crimes like this go unreported. It’s a tragedy and it should stop and we have to stop victimizing victims, so that these women feel confident to say, “Hey, this happened to me and I don’t feel okay and I need support.”

Q: On that note, are you okay with us publishing your name and your photo?

A: Yup.

Q: So, the letter. I understand that you’re a comedian and an actor, right? The letter kind of has an element of comedy to it, and I was curious about that. Why did you choose to take that tone?

A: Well, as a comedian, being honest is an incredibly painful thing. We don’t really love being vulnerable. It’s not something that’s comfortable. And I think we all are comedians because we’ve developed comedy as a safety mechanism in our lives very early on. So it’s very difficult, I would say, to talk about things very honestly. And I would also say that nesting something in comedy makes it less obtrusive to someone’s day. If I had just written, “Hey, all my friends and family, this happened to me,” that would be very terrifying to them. But if I can at least be like, “but I have a sense of humour and I’m okay and you know I’m okay because I’m obviously still talking the way I normally talk and behaving the way I behave,” I can at least give my friends some comfort that it’s really okay.

Q: What about your family? Do they know about this?

A: Yeah, I told my parents. My mom’s response was very, “What if you just always took cabs everywhere?” And that’s not economically feasible. And my Dad said, “You should look over your shoulder every seven seconds.” And I was like, ‘I can’t do that, Dad.’ And then he suggested: “Maybe look into some self-defence, maybe do some Krav Maga?” (Laughs.) Thanks, Dad.

Q: Have you seen Krista Ford’s apology tweet?

A: No, but someone told me that she did one. Honestly, I don’t harbour any resentment toward her. I think this is a problem that’s much larger than her. And I feel slightly bad if I’ve caused her any anguish today. Because I know people have been tweeting at me and tweeting at her at the same time, and I do genuinely feel bad if she posted something without thinking that has brought her such a torrent of heat. I don’t harbour resentment. I just think this is a problem. We have to stop letting people talk this way. It’s not my intent to attack her or demonize her. I just wanted it to be, “Hey, I’m the face of who you just said this about — I would appreciate it if you didn’t call me a whore.”

Q: So the dress you were wearing at the time of the assault, which you wrote about...

A: It’s a little polka-dot dress, very much like what Little Bo Peep would wear. It has a ribbon on it. It’s blue. Everyone all night was telling me I look adorable.

Q: Why did you feel the need to add that detail to the letter?

A: Because I think that (says) that I’m not this intangible woman who you imagine this happening to. I’m a regular person you would know. I’m the daughter of two parents who are freaking out. I’m the friend of a whole bunch of girls who are crying that this happened to me. I’m just so painfully ordinary that I think it’s worth noting that I’m nothing special. And I don’t think I’m the girl you would look at and go, “Oh, for sure her.”

Q: It’s been two weeks, almost three. How are you dealing with it?

A: Um, I feel okay. Honestly, it happened, it went away. And I was like, “Great, I’ll never deal with this again.” And then this morning happened and it’s, “Oh, nope. Wrong. Here it is.” (Laughs.) But I’m totally completely fine. I think it’s because I have really, truly amazing friends and family. And such an astonishing amount of love from my friends today, which I think is the most overwhelming part. That’s the part I’ve been misty over — not the actual act, but how much my friends love me is really, truly wonderful.

Q: Last question. Some people have been saying nasty things about how Krista Ford has dressed in the past, in particular during her stint on the Lingerie Football League. What do you say to that?

I don’t think that’s fair. That’s the same thing. The entire point of this is we have security of person. It doesn’t matter how we dress. It doesn’t matter how we act. There is nothing you can do as a woman, as a man ... There’s nothing you can do as a person that tells people they have the right to assault you. There’s nothing, point blank. It’s in our Charter. You have security of person. So if you want to do a lingerie league, all power to you, I have nothing but respect and support for you. As you should have respect for me to wear my adorable Little Bo Peep dress.

This interview has been edited slightly for length and clarity.

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com